Homemade Rustic Granola Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What ingredient makes granola clump together? ›

Clumpy Granola Method: Add Egg White

About this method: According to Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, “Nothing glues like protein.” While there are many granola recipes that include an egg white, I got this tip from the Big Cluster Maple Granola recipe in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

Nut butter is a super flavorful fat that serves multiple purposes in granola. It acts as a binding agent—along with additional coconut oil and whatever natural sweetener I've chosen—helping to pull the dry ingredients together into a wet, sticky mass for baking.

I aim to let it hit room temperature, whatever that may be; the real point is to give it ample time to shed excess heat and steam. This should take about 45 minutes; if left out indefinitely, the granola can turn sticky or soft, so do try to put it away as soon after cooling as you can.

Once you try homemade granola, you won't go back to store-bought granola. It's so much better! This granola recipe is also a far more healthy granola option, since it's made with whole grains, unrefined oil and naturally sweetened.

While there are several different sticky ingredients that you can use, we've found that the binding agent that works the best is honey! When added to your homemade granola bars, honey acts as glue that sticks all the pieces together.

Honey – Along with the nut butter, it helps all these ingredients stick together! I love its warm amber flavor in this recipe.

Ground Flaxseed. Adds protein and, when combined with the wet ingredients, becomes a glue-like binding agent that helps hold the bars together. Wheat Germ. A superfood boost that adds folate, fiber, vitamin E, and other key nutrients to these no bake granola bars (as well as this Healthy Granola).

Binders are any ingredient that can help a mixture hold its shape or remain bound together. Traditional binding agents include flour and eggs. The most commonly used food binder is flour. Flour is created by grinding raw grains or roots into a powder and then served in diverse cuisines.

Materials used as binders included egg, wax, honey, lime, whey, linseed oil or bitumen.

Granola may prompt weight gain if eaten in excess, as it can be high in calories from added fats and sugars. What's more, sugar is linked to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Should you stir granola while baking? ›

Stick with a low temperature, keep an eye on your mixture, and stir it from time to time to help it brown evenly.

Olive oil gives a crispier granola, and it's cheaper too. I would never go back. My preference for granola is to use jumbo oats, porridge oats will of course work also, but the texture with jumbo oats is less 'floury'.

Jamie Lee McIntyre MS RDN, dietitian and nutrition consultant says the price of high-quality granola makes sense, as many brands spend money on organic ingredients. Plus, many higher-end granola brands make small batches to maintain freshness, which can increase manufacturing costs per unit.

Advantage homemade. Both granolas have whole oats as their main ingredient, but the Kellogg's is high in refined sugar and contains palm oil. The homemade version contains protein-rich pecans and uses only a small amount of honey, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.

Yes, granola can be eaten daily. As part of a balanced diet and if the portions are checked. Go for healthier options with less added sugars and saturated fats to get the most out of it.

Flaxseed is wonderful for this, because after 30 minutes it soaks up the water, and turns into a gluey mass that will bind all your granola ingredients together. Also, flaxseed is the most concentrated source of essential omega-3 fatty acids. It has tons of fiber too.

Add an egg white.

The whites act as a kind of glue that binds the ingredients together. To ensure that the egg whites coat all the ingredients, I beat them with a whisk until foamy and increased in volume, which makes it much easier to fold into the granola.

Make sure that whichever granola recipe you use, it calls for some liquid, typically oil of some kind (I recommend olive oil for a subtle earthy, floral flavor, or melted unrefined coconut oil for subtly coconutty flavor). The liquid will help the chia seeds to gel, ensuring the granola sticks together.

We've also noticed that clumpier granola seems to have a higher percentage of oats to other ingredients. Oats stick to each other much easier and more firmly than they do with other, heavier ingredients. If it seems like your mix doesn't have a lot of oats, try adding another cup or two of rolled oats before cooking.